Copying User Data to New Profile

[Craig]

Windows XP SP1

Two problems:-

a) In KB Art. 811151 [to create a new user] it requires the Advanced tab to
be clicked when in Start/Control Panel/User Accounts.
On my system there is no such thing as an Advanced Tab in that window.
Are the instructions Re Home and Pro versions reversed?

b) In the same article [to copy the files] it requires that all files
[except the 3 NT????.* files] be copied to the required profile but I
always get *Access Denied* error messages when try to copy them across.

e.g. I want to copy A's profile to B and I'm logged on as C with full
admin rights and from a cold restart.
I go to C:\Documents and Settings\A and try to copy the files/folders
[except the 3 NT files] to C:\Documents and Settings\B but get the Access
Denied treatment.
BTW all hidden/system files etc. are unhidden.

TIA
Craig

 

[Sharon F]

a) In KB Art. 811151 [to create a new user] it requires the Advanced tab to
be clicked when in Start/Control Panel/User Accounts.
On my system there is no such thing as an Advanced Tab in that window.
Are the instructions Re Home and Pro versions reversed?

Old (or wrong) information in that part of the article. There is no
advanced tab in the screen that they mention.

Start> Run> userpasswords2 will bring up a user management tool that has an
Advanced tab. However, use of some portions in this screen are not
recommended for XP Home. There are user groups and other particulars listed
that do not exist and that are not supported in XP Home.

To copy a profile:
You need a user account to copy from and a user account to copy to. Usually
the old account is already present. Create a new account. Log on to at
least once.

Next, log on with an account that is *not* the Copy From or the Copy To
account. This third account must belong to the adminstrator group. You can
create a 'throwaway" admin account for this process if you'd like. Delete
it later. The point is that you cannot be logged on to the account that you
are copying from or the account you are copying to.

While logged on to this third account, use System Properties> Advanced>
User Profiles. Click the Settings button. A new screen appears. Select the
account that you want to copy and click the Copy To button. You'll be
prompted for the account that this information is going to go to. Click the
Browse button. Select the folders for the target account. Click OK. The
appropriate files will be transferred.

Log off of the temp admin account you were using. Log on to the account you
have just copied to. Make sure that all account info has transferred
properly.

NOTE: The Copy-From and Copy-To accounts should be in the same group to
avoid permission issues. Example: copy a user profile from one user in the
administrator group to another user in the administrator group. If the
target account is ultimately going to be in the limited group, change that
status *after* the transfer. They will inherit the attached permissions for
specific items transferred to their account. New items will be governed by
the permissions for the limited user group.

If there is any trouble with accessing transferred files, assign ownership
of those files to the pertinent user:
HOW TO: Take Ownership of a File or Folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421

Finally, go back to User Accounts in Control Panel and delete any
superfluous accounts.